Truss construction



Feb. 27, 1951 A. MERGEHENN TRUSS CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 7, 1946 gvwe/wtm A. MERGEHE/V/V Patented Feb. 27, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRUSS CONSTRUCTION Adolph Mergehenn, Baltimore, Md.

Application October '7, 1946, Serial No. 701,744 2 Claims. (01. ice-est This invention relates to novel truss constructions and more particularly to improvements in the waist-belt portion thereof and the matter of connecting the waist-belt to a pad assembly.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a truss having a waist-belt easily detachable and simple, rigidly preset pads and supports, and slidable connections between the belt and supports whereby the pads are urged to press inwardly and upwardly against the points where the hernia or rupture is located and at the proper angle to furnish the relief desired.

A further object is to provide a truss having slidably adjustable connections at the sides of the waist belt between a flexible horizontal rear portion and a rigid front or pad portion wherein the direction of slidability is inclined upwardly to the rear so as to transmit an upwardly and inwardly directed pressure on said pads when the connections are suitably tightened.

A further object is to provide a truss comprising a comparatively wide flexible waist belt about the rear portion of the body ending in adjustable strap ends at the sides, guideways in said belt opening forwardly at the base of said strap ends and extending rearwardly and upwardly, and pad and frame assemblies having rigid side extensions for slidable insertion into said guideways and buckles at the base of said extensions for said strap ends.

A further object is to provide inclined pocket and pad support connections at the sides of the wearer between a waist belt portion of a truss and its pad support assembly, whereby to direct the pressure of said pads upwardly while they are pulled backwardly by a tightening of the connections at the guideways over the hips.

A further object is to provide a truss comprising a relatively Wide flexible waist-belt rear portion having leather strips with strap ends stitched thereto at the sides, said stitches including border stitches and spaced rows of stitches extending lengthwise of the belt and strips with thedirection of such rows of stitching being inclined upwardly and away from the front of the belt to provide open ended guideways within which an element of the pad assembly may be freely inserted to provide an uplift action on the truss pads.

A still further object is to construct a truss having a waist-belt and a pad assembly with means for connecting them relatively angularly at the sides of the wearers body so as to cause an upwardly directed pressure component along with the inward pressure as the connecting means are tightened.

Other and more specific objects will appear in the following detailed description of an illustrative form of trusses based on the present invention, having reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a truss of simple form and made in accordance with this invention,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the waist-belt portion of the truss showing the arrangement of stitches forming the inclined guideways, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure 1.

Referring more in detail to the accompanying drawing, the reference numeral I designates a waist-belt which may be of webbing or other flexible band material and has strips 2 and 3 preferably of leather or similar material stitched along their side edges as at 6 to the ends of the waistbelt The leather strips 2 and 3 respectively carry extended strap ends 3 and 5.

Each of the strips 2 and 3 is additionally stitched to the waist-belt by rows of stitching l and 8 parallel to each other and extending lengthwise of the belt and strip with the direction of the rows of the additional stitching being inclined upwardly and away from the front of the belt to provide an open ended guideway within which an element of a pad assembly may be freely inserted for assemblage application to the body of a wearer and be slidably mounted when in inserted position.

A pad assembly formed of rigid material includes a central portion 2 with a rigid extension bar 9 at one side thereof, while the pad It! may be adjustably mounted by means of screws H passing through slots [2 in the central portion of the pad assembly. The rigid extension bar 9 is curved substantially to fit around the slides of the wearers body and is slidably inserted into the inclined guideway of the waist-belt. A buckle I3 is mounted at the base of the bar extension 9 to receive the adjacent strap endfcr adjustment of the truss on the person to provide suitable pressure on the pad at the point where the rupture or hernia may be located. It is to be understood that although only one pad ill is illustrated, there may be two pads of any convenient from and they may be rigidly or flexibly connected in known manner. The connection between the pad and the extension bar 9, however, is rigid although it may be adjustable as shown to provide for properly locating the pad with respect to the hernia.

With the construction disclosed there is provided a confortable and efficient truss, furnishing the desirable upwardly and inwardly directed pressure on the pads, in an adjustable manner, by the use of the inclined guideways in the sides of the waist-belt and without resorting to any complex mechanism to obtain the proper inclination of the pads or the direction of pressure.

It will be understood that upon tightening of the waist-belt, the rigid bars will have their rear terminal ends moved in an upward direction through the inclined guideways toward the back or" the wearer, resulting in upward and inward movements of the lower half portions of the pads to produce the uplift support for the hernia.

While there is herein shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope Of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a truss for hernia, a one-piece waist-belt of flexible material and two leather strips stitched at their upper and lower edges to the end portions of the flexible waist-belt to provide an elongated connection between the strips and such end portions of the waist-belt, the length of the waistbelt being such as to locate the stitching at the sides of the wearer, the strips being of substantially uniform width at such stitching, each strip having a strap end extending beyond the end portions of the waist-belt and adapted for adjustable connection to a buckle carried by a pad assembly, each of said strips and adjacent portion of the waist-belt having a pair of additional rows of stitching parallel to each other and extending lengthwise of the belt and strip with the direction of the rows of such additional stitching being inclined upwardly and away from the front of the belt, thereby providing an open ended guideway within which an element of such pad assembly may be freely inserted for assemblage application to the body of the wearer and be slidably mounted when in inserted position, said inclined additional stitching presenting a guiding control for such slidable pad assembly element to thereby maintain substantially constant the angularity of such slidable element while within the guideway.

2. In a truss for hernia, a one-piece waist-belt, a pad assembly, said waist-belt being formed of flexible material and two leather strips stitched at their upper and lower edges to the end por- 4 tions of the flexible waist-belt to provide an elongated connection between the strips and such end portions of the waist-belt, the length of the waist-belt being such as to locate the stitching at the sides of the wearer, the strips being of substantially uniform width at such stitching, each strip having a strap end extending forward beyond the end portions of the waist-belt for adjustable connection to a buckle carried by said pad assembly, each of said strips and adjustable portion of the waist-belt having a pair of additional rows of stitching parallel to each other and extending lengthwise of the belt and strip with the direction of the rows of such additional stitching being inclined upwardly and away from the front of the belt, thereby providing an open ended guideway within which an element of said pad assembly may be freely inserted for assemblage application to the body of the wearer and be slidably mounted when in inserted position, said inclined additional stitching presenting a guiding control for such slidable pad assembly element to thereby maintain substantially constant the angularity of such slidable element while within the guideway, the pad assembly including a rigid member, a pad adjustably attached to each end of said member, an extension bar at each end of said member adapted to slidably fit in the"c0mplementary guideway, and a buckle at the base of each extension bar to receive the adjacent strap end.

ADOLPH MERGEHENN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 444,899 Wheeler Jan. 20, 1891 1,550,677 Davis Aug. 25, 1925 1,554,488 Smith Sept. 22, 1925 1,727,668 Parkison Sept. 10, 1929 2,239,616 Mergehenn et a1. Apr. 22, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 7,364 France July 19, 1907 (Addition to Patent No. 369,354) 557,119 France Apr. 27, 1923 649,240 France Aug. 27, 1928 

